


If I apologised

by RotChan



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: AU where Vanessa isn't abusive and mean, Alternate Universe, Angst, Character Death, F/M, Gen, Genocide, Good Vanessa, May containartwork in further chapters, More tags to be added as story goes, The blizzard was an accident, but yeah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:20:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24103513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RotChan/pseuds/RotChan
Summary: An AU story I made where Vanessa was never abusive or obsessive over the prince, and her blizzard was an accident caused by her emotions to the misunderstanding of seeing her love with the florist.
Relationships: Snatcher/Queen Vanessa (A Hat in Time)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	If I apologised

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, a few things before we start, this is my first fic in this fandom, and ofc I decide to like one of the more problematic characters. I wanted to make her good though, as she has potential this way. No, she doesn't abuse the prince, or obsess over him. She simoly has a major crush and just sucks as being flirty with him cause she's a derp :p
> 
> Second, more info about this AU can be found on my tumblr (Diskopanik), the tag for the AU is called "Save subcon AU", but this story is called If I apologised.
> 
> This story is unbeta'd and while I'm sorry for that, I'm prepared to die like a man.
> 
> Lastly, this story's title is based off this song ! I kinda imagine it from Vanessa's pov. There also might be art by yours truly in later chapters if I feel motivated !  
> ( https://youtu.be/1QdSUBqhCOk )

What did she expect? Really. What had Vanessa expected when she threw open the large wooden doors of her manor to a frozen wasteland?   
The chill greeted her faster than the shock, freezing her so she could only stare. Glittering, hungry snow that had eaten everything, her beloved garden, then yellow path, even every single tree in the area. The blonde turned her gaze to the sky...or what should've been. Above was a large dome made of ice, seeming to isolate her manor from the rest of the kingdom....

Right, the kingdom !

With the reminder, she turned on her heel, throwing on a thick wool coat and exchanged her precious pumps for warm snow boots. Throwing the hood over her head, she trudged out, kicking the snow out of the way and closing the doors. Bloody hell, did her magic really do this?? Last she remembered, Vanessa was only able to freeze water into ice cubes as a party joke, but cause an entire blizzard?! She really has explaining to do to everyone...if they were around, she hoped.

The gates to her manor were closed, as she demanded they be when she wanted to be alone, but now they were frozen shut, which was always great. Vanessa only sighed nervously before reaching out and grabbing the metal, freezing it further until it was brittle enough for her to kick and shove open.   
With the gates ajar, she was able to peer down into the opening of the dome, her eyes straining against the darkness. She was afraid, definitely, wringing her chilled hands as she edged forward cautiously. As far as she was aware, the whole kingdom was frozen over, leaving her the only one left. Her people, her guards, even...even her prince..

Vanessa forced herself not to cry, walking faster, ignoring her reflections on the ice walls of the tunnel as it seemed to close around her. Her prince would be fine, perhaps upset, but he would be ok, and so would everyone else. She wasn't a murderer, couldn't be.

She peered behind her, watching the light of that side move further away. She didn't quite remember the village being far away, as she left her manor to spend her time there everyday, but she wasn't exactly in the best mindset at the moment. She shook her head, focusing on moving forward when she turned, meeting face to face with...something.

With a yelp, she stumbled baxkwards, landing on her rear in the snow. The being was not human, a monster perhaps? And it was staring right at her, it's hidden eyes glaring into her own and she could feel it. It didn't move, didn't have to for her to scramble back to put enough distance between her and the beast. Whatever it was, it didn't follow, only stared, and only then did Vanessa calm enough to actually register what she was looking at.

The thing was long, no limbs, but rather a long tail like thing, and appeared to be floating. It's ethereal mass glittered and glowed in the lighting, and with a spin, air swirled the snow beneath. When she saw the mask that took the spot of its face, she knew that instant, this thing wasn't going to harm her.

She sat up un her elbows, despite how her body shivered and complained, and opened her mouth,"Y-you're from Subcon, aren't you." Her voice was frail in the moment, as she already knew the answer. It wasn't a question, and with a nod from the creature, it only made the dread in Vanessa grow,"Are you one of my people?" 

She really hoped not. Maybe some magical creatures existed deep in the woods, like guardians that protected the kingdom, and were disturbed by the sudden disaster that happened and came to see what occured. Vanessa rolled her eyes internally, it was a childish yet hopeful thought, and it was far more preferrable than the answer she received.

With another nod, the creature spun, turning and staring down the tunnel in the direction of the village. Vanessa got to her frozen feet and stood next to her subject, rubbing heat into her hands. The creature stared off, but the queen could only stare at her feet. If one subject was this being, were all of them like this? Were they all..dead? Tears welled up, but she sucked in a hard breath, reminding herself that she wasn't a crybaby, not what her mother thought. No. Never what she thought.

She hadn't noticed that her subject was staring at her, and when she did, she quickly wiped her face. It already knew though, they all did but she wanted to act like she didn't know that. In a shaking voice, she glanced ahead,"Are you here to take me to the village, then?" 

It..THEY gave another nod, and drifted ahead of her to follow, a pale trail of light trailing behind it. She trudged after them warily, wrapping her coat tighter around herself.

-

Upon exitting the tunnel, the duo were greeted to the outside world, and the chaos that happen. Vanessa could only gawk, looking at the buildings the sat, empty and frozen over. Oh god...she really hoped that no one was still in them, trapped and long past being saved. She hugged herself, wanting to look away but finding it hard to, that is until her companion bump its head gently into her arm, pulling her attention away. She turned her icy eyes to them, and she could almost feel the emotion coming from their being. Sad, scared, confused..did they even know she caused this? Not many of her people actually knew about her strange magic, only her mother, her Prince, and those who stayed in the manor to aid her. She didn't want to imagine what they would think if they knew, even though inside, she deserved whatever they would've done.

She gulped hard, shivering and moving forward. She couldn't crack now, not when this was only the beginning. Though her expectatons were far different then what she was starting to notice, ice and snow withering away into the grotesque, rotting forest floor, covered in leaves of purple and greys. Trees weren't covered in winter, like she thought, and mushrooms have seemingly appeared, taking over the foilage in all their glowiness. She knew she had magical powers, but this definitely wasn't hers. 

The place was pretty, in it's odd, spooky way. A way that had Vanessa gazing wide-eyed at everything curiously while also cowering in the soggy cold of her coat, and when her eyes landed on the familiar village, she felt a tinge of hope. The homes weren't frozen over, so maybe there were still people about !

She almost tripped several times hurrying to the village, if it weren't for her companion, she would have been in the dirt most of those times. Her feet hurt, her own magic freezing her body, but she didn't care about that, her mind fixed on a cloaked being the stood nearby a house, conpletely oblivious to the woman making her way over.

"Hello!" The person jumped, turning to the voice's owner and watching as she collapsed at their feet, rather unfitting for a queen, as she would've been told, but she didn't care in that moment. It was silent for a few seconds as she caught her breath, and she became aware that she may have scared them, but when she looked up, she saw something else-

Yes,they were startled, backed away by a few feet, but that isn't what she was focused on, no. It was their glowing..face, shining from the dark hood of their cloak, a hand was raised up as if the queen was going to strike them, though when they realized she wouldn't, they lowered it, and spoke quietly.

"You're majesty...?"

Vanessa smiled, feeling nothing but relief in that moment as she nodded. Someone else knew her and they could talk ! They could tell her what happened here, and maybe, even the person who had done this ! Though before she could speak further, she was being dragged by her hand into a stand, and into the home nearby, the new comer apologizing under their breath, her companion following quickly behind.

Inside was already much warmer, a small fire made in the fireplace. The new comer allowed the queen to settle close to it, not really needing it as much as she did, though they were greatful they decided to keep it burning. After checking to make sure they weren't being watched, the new comer came and sat down by their queen, nervously kicking their feet,"So you survived the blizzard??"

Well let it be damned. Vanessa's guilt and stress returned, and she could only stare and nod, as they continued,"That's good. It's good to see someone made it out of this." They paused, seemingly thinking about something before shaking their head,"You can just call me Subconite, by the way. We aren't really allowed names anymore, since they don't matter."

What?

"What?" Vanessa blinked. Who didn't allow them names? 'Subconite' was definitely not something she could just call them. Subconite only shrugged,"I don't mind it. Again, it doesn't really matter in at the end of the day."

The blonde cleared her throat, trying to pick fron a list of questiobs she had, knowing that 'Subconite' probably couldn't answer them all.

Many questions appealed to her, but alas, she had to know what was happening first-

"Are you..dead?"

'Subconite' snorted, but nodded,"Yeah, we all perished when the blizzard hit. Even your dweller friend, though I haven't seen them around here...I wonder if they stayed at the manor..." the little ghost? Kept talking until they realized that Vanessa had gone quiet, and glanced over, spotting her horrified expression. They gasped, and vowed their head,"I'm sorry for anything I said wrong, you're majesty, I've just gotten used to-"

The queen raised her hand, quieting them. Honestly, she didn't care how casual they were being. She never did but...here the news that her magic, her outrage had cause a genocide.. it made her sick to her stomache. She wanted to throw up, all of her people were dead and it was her fault. Even...even her Prince...

She started to cave, then. Holding herself tight and leaning forward until her face touched her knees, curling in on herself. Oh how she wanted to suffer, she was a killer, a murderer! She killed everyone! How could she tell 'Subconite' that this was her doing? They deserved to know the reason behind their fate but..she was terrified. They would hate her, hate her until she died. She doomed everyone and she would live knowing this, if she survived that is..

Small pats on her back brought her around, and she sniffed, rubbing her eyes. 'Subconite' was trying to comfort her, comfort she didn't deserve, yet she was too gentle to turn away from it. soft "it's ok"'s were shared, even the Dweller had come and wrapped it's snake-like body around her in a form of a hug.

God she deserved everything worse than this...

"You uh...you should leave though." 'Subconite' started, speaking carefully and in an almost whisper, as if they were trying to hide from something. Vanessa turned her gaze to them, confusion in her eyes as they looked around,"You see, he won't really be happy to see you..."

Vanessa had no clue who they were talking about. If everyone knew the truth, no on would be happy to see her, and there were always those who one knew her magic...

When she didn't reply, 'Subconite' sighed,"Look, the boss likes taking souls from humans that are in his forest, and if he sees you, he'll take yours. It's hard to leave but maybe the Dweller can help you out."

As if agreeing, the Dweller bobbed it's head, long since released its hug from the blonde. Vanessa still had so many questions though, ones that would be important to finding out what happened here, but she was already being led away from the sweet warmth to the door,'Subconite's' voice stern,"He'll come by every once and a while to check on us, and it's usually unannounced, so I actually have no clue when he'll be here. Now that your warm you can leave, and maybe stay away?"

Vanessa knew the little guy was protecting her from this nameless being but she felt pushed. The door was open and she was being tugged out by both 'Subconite' and the Dweller, ushering her to the path. 

"W-wait who is 'he'???" She stared at the bright void that was 'Subconite's' face until they answered, they're voice rushed and low,"He's called the Snatcher and he WILL take your soul if you stay.."

The name was fitting for some soul stealing forest thing, she guessed. Figuring that's all she was gunna get from her subject, she nodded sheepishly and started slowly down the path, both ghosts going with her, Dweller ahead and 'Subconite' behind. That is until 'Subconite' was no longer there, and only the blonde and and the Dweller were left. This one didn't talk, it seemed, so she didn't make any one sided conversation with it. She watched ot though, watched it look around, looking at things she didn't see. Occasionally, if it turned its head just enough, she could see the eyes of the mask glow a green hue...

Hee hee hee hee...

Both Vanessa and the Dweller froze at the sound, and while she looked around, the small ghost at her side began to panic, motioning her to follow elsewhere.

She was going to, until she saw something..no..someone. A figure about her height stood further down the path, watching her. They were a dark shade of purple, much like the 'Subconite', and a black smoke curled off and around them. Vanessa swallowed, and raised her hand to her mouth,"Hello? C-can you help me?"

Hee hee heee

The figure twirled on it's toes, skipping further down the path until it became harder to see it. The Dweller tried grabbing at her wrist with it's tail, but she pulled away, determined to find who this person was, and if they could help her. She ran, her feet hurt but she ignored that, her eyes never leaving the figure that stopped every once and a while to make sure she was following. Finally, the being stopped, and remained still until she fould get close to it.

It was..her, but ghastly, and wicked yellow smile spread across her face, and even more wicked eyes that stared into her pale ones. She stood, notnunderstanding what she was looking at until the figure vanished into a puddle of shadows, giggling one last time.

Just as suddenly as it left, the world around her shifted away, a circle of light engulfing the ground beneath her feet, a wall of shadow material walling her into it's trap. In the middle grew the figure, but it wasn't her own, rather a large, long creature, wielding 3 sharp talons on each hand, a mane of spiked hair or fur, and it's face wore the same frightenig expression as before. The appearance alone was enough to knock the queen once again on the ground, her hood falling from her head as she screamed.

"HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaaaaaaaa!! FOOOOOOOoooooooooooooolll!!"


End file.
